Building Camper Body Before Buying Trailer?

[Alfred]

Hi Gang,

I am wanting to build my teardrop trailer on a budget (you know how it goes). I was hoping to wait to purchase the Harbor Freight Super Heavy Duty 4X8 Trailer when it goes back on sale (Geez, it was just on sale a couple of weeks ago, too). But, I am itching to get started on the project. I am wondering if I could start working on the body of the camper, and just attach it to the trailer when I buy the trailer down the road.

My friend who knows a more about this sort of thing than I do, and considers himself a reasonable person, says, "No"; That I need to have the trailer to make sure everything fits. He said something about it being awkward if I get the body done, then find for some reason unforeseen it doesn't actually fit on the trailer. Well, I can't really argue with that, but...

As a less reasonable, and somewhat impatient teardrop builder, I am thinking that one can download the specs from the Harbor Freight website; Actually, I could go to the local Harbor Freight outlet and look at the floor model.

Anyway, wondering if anyone else has built the body separate from the trailer and if it is do-able.

Thanks, Al in Asheville

[madjack]

Well Al from Asheville...yes you can...quite a few folks here have done exactly that...if you are only building a 4x8, designed to sit on top of the frame(as opposed to coming down and covering said frame), then there are virtually no problems other than fastening the camper to the trailer(easily worked out)...if you want something bigger, then you will need to plan the fitment up in a very detailed way to make sure that everything will fit when done...
madjack

p.s. you could build a mockup of the frame outta 2x4s to build on top of...just remember that on HF trailers, you don't have a lotta clearance between wheels/fenders and the trailer frame.......MJ

[Ira]

Al, also think about this:

You can definitely get your wood floor frame done and the underside sealed before buying the trailer. (And insulated, if you intend to do so.) You can get your bulkhead walls framed. Your sides cut, framed and insulated, if that's your plan. The doors cut out and done.

By the time you accomplish the above, that trailer will be on sale again.

I myself would be afraid to build the complete body off the frame and then attaching, but a BUNCH of people here have done just that. Some of their hernias have even healed already!

But youR friend might be recommending against it because of a squaring issue, but that will have nothing to do with it:

The HF frame is bolt together anyway, so you're gonna have to play with that to get it as close to square as humanly possibly anyway. If you decide to build complete shell and then lift onto the frame, just make sure the shell is square.

There are also some issues on how you bolt the complete shell to the frame--not something to consider when doing it the standard one--but again, someone will chime in here and explain how you should prepare the shell for later final bolting.

[Laredo]

You could always build a box frame -- say, out of 2x6 lumber -- that would fit inside the HF frame and then build your tear on top of that.

[Airspeed]

I built mine before I even knew what kind of trailer I would use, I just set up some old milk crates and a pair of old speaker boxes,leveled them all and set the floor on them. You could build some short sawhorses and work off of them,just make sure you get them level with each other so your body ends up square.
I set mine up so it would be at ride height during the build (mine has about 12" from the floor to the ground) to make it easier to figure out the galley. I didnt get a trailer till the body was almost done. I found an old junk camper in a field and the owner gave it to me just to get it off his property.
If you see an old turd of a camper somewhere,tell the owner you will haul it off for him for free! This is the camper I got my frame from,
It cost me about $20 in dump fees to get rid of the body

[Guy]

There is no problem doing it that way even if you are going to hang it over the edges of the trailer (building bigger than 4 x . The trailer is a stock size and the easily planned for. Just make sure that it will be easy to position the trailer underneath it so that it is squared true.

If you look at Steve Fredericks' site or better yet buy his build manual you will see that Steve gets all of his parts done long before he starts putting them on a trailer.

[Alfred]

I am thinking of building a 'Rimple", which is a straight 4X8 size, so overlapping should not be an issue. It should just sit on top and bolt right on, I think...

AL.

[critter]

Hey AL,
Get er done! We need more nc boys in this teardrop thing anyhoo!Just be carefull with da tape and square you ought not to have any problems!

[Sierrajack]

Hi Alfred,
Two things to consider about the HF frame. First you have to make allowances for the bolt heads sticking up. This means you'll have to countersink (Forstner bit) the areas where the bolt heads are sticking up so your floor sits flush on top of the frame. Second thing is to add metal strips on top the cross members (between the frame rails) like shims or the floor will sag when bolted down. I added copious quantities of clear silicone sealer around the perimeter and cross members before bolting anything down. This helps to block out any unwanted water that may collect there which could cause rotting problems later.
Another consideration is that lumber today is "nominal" in it's dimensions meaning that a plywood sheet may not be square. I built my frame to within 1/32" of square only to find out that I had to cut 1/4" off of the floor on one side to get it square with the frame. Most 4'x8' sheets of anything may be "diamonded" somewhat and not exactly to your specifications. Like Gage told me - "don't use a square, you'll scare yourself". A 1/8" oops up front may be magnified to 1/4" or more toward the back.

[Ira]

By the way, the lighter HF frame, the folding one with the 12" wheels, is on sale again. I got the circular yesterday.

$239, which isn't the cheapest price we've seen it for, but it's still cheap.

The web site says $269, but my circular says $239.

[Keith B]

I built my TD and trailer seperate.. it fit . Look at my album for how it was done... the pics were posted pretty much in order of build. Took 8 guys to get the TD on the trailer, 6 to lift, 1 to guide the trailer and 1 to run to the liquer store and Pizza Hut... Good luck and most importantly, HAVE FUN